Ukraine needs to pass PMCs establishment bill soon — military expert

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

“The issue of establishing PMCs has been raised repeatedly. Currently, one of the MPs has submitted a new draft law. There was news that the Ministry of Defense supported the decision on PMCs. However, if you look at it in detail, this is not entirely true. The Ministry of Defense says that this draft law needs to be finalized, as it contradicts the current laws on intelligence and other government agencies,” Zgurets explained.

According to the military expert, Ukraine is moving very slowly in establishing PMCs.

“Back in 2023, the Ukrainian consulting company Omega Consulting stated that it could ensure the arrival of about 20,000 trained military personnel from other countries to Ukraine, which could significantly enhance our capabilities. However, this initiative did not receive support from the HUR (Ukraine’s intelligence - ed.),” Zgurets said.

The military expert also added that Ukraine is currently trying to form a mechanism for interaction with PMCs potential and attract people with relevant experience.

“If we had a decision on PMCs, we could solve the issue of F-16 maintenance using technicians from other countries. Pilots will be trained for us, but technicians who have experience working with F-16s in the armies of different countries could help a lot. Another important area is medical support. The Hospitallers battalion, which has no support from the state and tries to get help from volunteers, is also a kind of private medical company working for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Such areas should have been used earlier,” emphasized Zgurets.

The expert believes that the draft law on the establishment of PMCs in Ukraine has been discussed for too long.

“It needs to be adopted faster with effective mechanisms that can really help the Ukrainian Armed Forces to expand the number of personnel with professional skills, in addition to mobilization,” Zgurets summarized.